a digraph or ligature appearing in Latin and Latinized Greek words. In English words of Latin or Greek origin, ae is now usually represented by e, except generally in proper names (Caesar), in words belonging to Roman or Greek antiquities (aegis), and in modern words of scientific or technical use (aecium).
Middle English (Scots) ā-,Old Englishānone; cf. a1
æ
the ash, an early English ligature representing a vowel sound like that of a in modern bad. The long ǣ continued in use until about 1250, but was finally replaced by e. The short æ was given up by 1150, being replaced usually by a but sometimes by e.
a digraph in Latin representing either a native diphthong, as in æquus, or a Greek αι (ai) in Latinized spellings, as in æschylus : now usually written ae, or e in some words, such as demon
a ligature used in Old and early Middle English to represent the vowel sound of a in cat
a ligature used in modern phonetic transcription also representing the vowel sound a in cat
Bertrand (Arthur William), 3rd Earl. 1872–1970, British philosopher and mathematician. His books include Principles of Mathematics (1903), Principia Mathematica (1910–13) with A. N. Whitehead, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy (1919), The Problems of Philosophy (1912), The Analysis of Mind (1921), and An Enquiry into Meaning and Truth (1940): Nobel prize for literature 1950
George William pen name æ . 1867–1935, Irish poet and journalist
Henry Norris . 1877–1957, US astronomer and astrophysicist, who originated one form of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
John, 1st Earl. 1792–1878, British statesman; prime minister (1846–52; 1865–66). He led the campaign to carry the 1832 Reform Act
Ken . 1927–2011, British film director. His films include Women in Love (1969), The Music Lovers (1970), The Boy Friend (1971), Valentino (1977), Gothic (1986), and The Rainbow (1989)
see æ. As a word, it can represent Old English æ "law," especially law of nature or God's law; hence "legal custom, marriage."
Russell
masc. proper name, from Old French rous-el, diminutive of rous "red," used as a personal name. See russet.
æ
symbol ultimately from Latin and used by scribes writing Old English for a vowel sound between "a" and "e;" generally replaced by -a- after the Conquest. The Latin symbol represented Greek -ai-, and when Latinate words flooded into English in the 16c., it reappeared with them, but only as an etymological device, and it was pronounced simply "e" and eventually reduced to that letter in writing (e.g. eon) in most cases except proper names: Cæsar, Æneas, Æsculapius, Æsop.
American astronomer who studied binary stars and developed methods to calculate their mass and distances. Working independently of Ejnar Hertzsprung, Russell also demonstrated the relationship between types of stars and their absolute magnitude. This correlation is now known as the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
